Trick or Treat!

Ben and I handed out candy on Briarwood tonight. Finally there are a good amount of kids on the block! I used to go Trick-or-Treating on Briarwood when I was little, so it makes me happy to see another generation going for it. Megan, Bob and Noah came by to visit during Trick or Treat. LOOK AT LITTLE NOAH THE LION!



He was so cute that I didn't take any other pictures during Trick-or-Treat. I would've taken a picture of Kate (cowgirl!) but she was moving so fast it was futile!



Noah and Bob.



Awww!



Lion King!






Cutest lion ever. Happy Halloween!

Block Party

We were hemming and hawing about whether to check out Uptown Halloween this year. We found out Kayla and Derrick were in the same boat, so we decided to have them over for dinner and all go check it out together! Kayla was a beautiful vision of Nature!






I made sweet potato black bean burritos and cilantro lime rice for dinner.



Spock, enjoying a burrito.



I made cookies, too!



Spock also enjoyed the cookies.



We stopped by Kayla and Derrick's house before heading up. I was going to wear my bunny costume, but the warm weather and Kayla's flowers inspired me to pull out the satyr instead!



Ben went as Green Man!






We had fun all night watching the Green Man creep around.



This way, guys!



Shadows.



Hahah. Halloween!


















There was a person in there!!! So tall and creepy!



Look at that sad, lonely little sailor out front of Chipotle!



Bands.



Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force!



We stopped into The Union to say hi to Moss.



Moss was a mime!



Then Ben and I headed home. Mermaids and sailors!



More Green Man antics.






When we got to our street, Yang and Nandini just happened to be driving by!! Happy Halloween!



asdf

Asheville

Ben and I headed to Asheville this weekend to visit Vana and Joe! It was my first time visiting, and his second. We headed out Thursday morning. They requested an assortment of Jackie O's beers, and we were happy to deliver! Mmm.



Road trip. Hello, Charleston!



We have a road trip tradition of packing delicious sandwiches and eating them at a rest stop. The weather was not cooperating on this trip, but we finally found a dry place to stop!



For hours I kept saying, "All this rain and seriously no rainbow?" And then FINALLY, in Virginia, we saw one. A glorious one!



We got to Asheville late, and Vana and Joe had made homemade pizzas. They were AMAZING, and though we ate at lots of amazing restaurants, it was one of my favorite meals of the trip. Mmm, pizza!

Friday morning, Vana had to go to work so Joe, Ben and I went to Sunny Point Cafe for breakfast. They have a giant garden out back, which we explored while we were waiting for our table.



Ben and Joe.



Broccoli!



Sunny Point gate.



So pretty!



Ben got the savory stuffed french toast.



And I got the huevos rancheros. They are supposedly some of the best in the country! And Casa Nueva's are pretty hard to beat. I will absolutely agree that the Sunny Point huevos rancheros are FANTASTIC!!! They were amazing.



After breakfast, we headed back to Vana and Joe's and played with Iris for awhile.



Happy Iris!



Then Ben and I went to DOWNTON ABBEY The Biltmore!!



The Biltmore is amazing.






The gardens! We were there for four hours and barely scratched the surface of the place. We did the Butler's Tour and the audio tour. Both were really cool. I would love to go back and explore more!






Roar!



View from one of the balconies. Look at that blue ridge!



When we got back to the house, Joe had left for work. We sat on the porch and enjoyed frosty beers with Vana!



Then we went out for dinner at Nine Mile. We started with the Reggae Mylitis nachos, which have a delicious smoked gouda chipotle queso and fire roasted tomato mango chipotle salsa. YUM!



Delicious salads and bread!



For dinner I had the Mayfield Falls - a delicious grilled fish dish with curry sauce.



Saturday morning, Ben ran in the Thomas Wolfe 8k!



Ready to go!



He did awesome and came in 53rd out of 500 races!



Pretty roof.



Vana and Joe's house was super cute.



Actually, EVERYTHING was cute in Asheville! Look at this cheerful parking garage!



After the race, we had lunch at Chestnut, where Joe is the chef!



I started with the lobster bisque. It was SO GOOD.



Ben had a lobster pot pie!



I chose the Reuben because Joe said it was amazing.



And Vana got the portabello sandwich. We shared both, and they were both delicious! What an amazing lunch. Thanks, Joe!



On the way back to the house, we stopped at Short Street Cakes. Chloe from Athens works there!



We picked out a bunch of flavors to bring home. MMM.



Then we got Iris and headed to Blue Ridge Parkway!



Selfie with Iris!



The drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway was gorgeous. There are so many tunnels on that mountain! We stopped at Graveyard Fields and did a little hike.















Hello!












That night we went to Salsa Mexican Caribbean Restaurant for dinner. There was a long wait, so we sat outside and had some margaritas!



And some local beers. Cheers!



It was absolutely worth the wait. We ordered a ton of food. We got the Ultimate Molcajetes hot lava rock bowl. Joe looks pumped and Vana looks intimidated.



Huge!!



This was the spliff roll appetizer.



A Paquete with tofu and sweet potato!



Chile relleno special with pulled pork. Everything was amazing!! I wish I had two stomachs!



Ben and I got up early on Sunday morning to head back to Athens. We googled for a place to get breakfast, and found the Well-Bred Bakery & Cafe in Weaverville. It was a great choice! I had a chorizo breakfast burrito and Ben had a breakfast sandwich on a croissant. Yum!



We couldn't resist stopping at a scenic overlook to get one last peek at the mountains.












Scenic overlook indeed! Hello, there!